The Kings have upgraded their team with the offseason additions of Mike Richards and Simon Gagne and have been named among Stanley Cup contenders. An extended absence by Doughty would have hurt their chances. Instead, Doughty will be with the team before it heads off to Europe to start the season.

"The important thing is that we have this kid locked in for eight years," Kings executive Tim Leiweke told lakingsinsider.com. "I just want to go win Cups. Drew is going to help us do that. What the fans should understand is, this kid is a warrior. I'm glad he's on our side. I'm glad he's here for eight years and I'm glad we got it done, because I think the world of him."

It also makes him the highest-paid King, with a $200,000 higher cap hit than Anze Kopitar. The Kings originally had said they didn't want to pay Doughty more than Kopitar unless he agreed to a long-term deal.

His new deal runs through the 2018-19 season and he'll still be in his prime at 29 when it expires. Jack Johnson, another key Kings defenseman, is signed through 2017-18.

"I definitely didn't want to miss that (trip to Europe)," Doughty told lakingsinsiders.com. "This was never in my mind, even being out for this long at all, but I knew I had to be there for the start of the season. I missed the boys a lot, and missed being in L.A., and this just felt like time to get it done and I'm really happy and really excited."

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